School-leavers and Sec examinations

The article "Headmaster proposes Sec exam alternative" (March 8) reported Fr Charles Mallia, a representative of the heads of Church and private schools, as saying that "only 29.5 per cent of students obtained six passes or more in last year's Sec examinations".

The comment was made the day before at a seminar organised by the National Curriculum Council on Matsec and the national minimum curriculum.

Fr Mallia's point of reference was the Sec examinations 2002 statistics report, published recently by the Matsec Support Unit. This statement gave the public the impression that Sec examinations were suitable for less than one-third of last year's fifth formers. Some clarification is needed on this point since what is taking place is more complex than is reflected in this statement.

The largest category of candidates who sat for Sec examinations in 2002 were born in 1986. These were the candidates who turned 16 in 2002 and most of these were in Form Five.

There were 5,245 born in 1986 and 4,008 of them sat for Sec examinations in 2002. Therefore, 76.4 per cent of the 16-year-olds registered for Sec examinations at the end of their compulsory schooling in 2002. This percentage also means that last year there were 23.6 per cent of school-leavers who did not register for any Sec examinations that year.

With reference to passes in Sec examinations, there were 1,546 candidates born in 1986 and who got passes (grades 1-5) specifically in English language, Maltese, mathematics, a science subject, another language and any other subject.

The 29.5 per cent refer to this specific group of 16-year-olds. The entry requirements for the Junior College are in fact grades 1 to 5 passes in English language, Maltese, mathematics, a science subject and any other two subjects. Possibly then, the percentage of the 1986 candidates who gained the necessary passes that qualified them for sixth form studies at the Junior College is even higher than 29.5 per cent.

Furthermore, if we consider passes from grades 1 to 5 in any subject, there were 2,176 candidates born in 1986 that got passes in six or more subjects in 2002.

This means that 41.5 per cent of 16-year-olds got passes from grades 1 to 5 in six or more subjects in 2002. If we consider all passes from grades 1 to 7 in any subjects, we find that there were 2,747 candidates born in 1986 that got passes in six or more subjects in 2002.

This means that 52.4 per cent of 16-year-olds got passes from grades 1 to 7 in six or more subjects in 2002. It is important to point out that the largest categories of passes among the 16-year-old were in 10, nine and 11 subjects whether we consider grades 1 to 5 or grades 1 to 7 as passes.

When we look at the 2002 Sec results of the 1986 cohort in the different subjects, we find the following results:

Subject Grades 1-5 Grades 1-7 English language 2,957 (56.4%) 3,179 (60.6%) Maltese 2,675 (51.0%) 2,783 (53.1%) Mathematics 2,483 (47.3%) 2,928 (55.8%)

Students who got a U or were absent for the May session and passed in the September session are not included in the grades 1-7 category in any of the subjects presented.

The statistics given for the basic subjects show around half of the 16-year-olds or more gained passes in these Sec examinations in 2002.

Currently, there is concern about two categories of school-leavers: those who are not passing these high stakes examinations and those who are not even registering for these examinations.

The reasons leading to this situation are multifold and interrelated. There are possibly four major factors at play: the difficulty of the examination, the content of the syllabus, the teaching that goes on in schools and the motivation of the students. Qualitative research is currently being conducted to help evaluate this situation.

Dr Grima is principal research and development officer, Matsec.